Cobalt 60 radiation

Cobalt 60 radiation

Picture of one of 663 containers of the radioactive substance Cobalt-60 kept in water at an institute in Elektrogorsk, 75 km (48 miles) outside Moscow, February 12, 1997. Scientists at the institute, which is short of funds, say the level of radiation is extremely high and that there is a risk of an explosion if electricity or water supplies are cut off. They say this could cause radioactivity to spread over a wide distance.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear body, did not give details on how much of the radioactive source, cobalt-60, was in the truck at the time.

Cobalt-60 can potentially also be used to make a so-called "dirty bomb", where conventional explosives are used to disperse radiation from a radioactive source. But the IAEA made no mention of this in its statement. (Reuters)